This application is to establish at UT Southwestern Medical Center an institutional National Research Service Award that will enhance short-term training opportunities for medical students in basic and clinical biomedical research specifically in areas of interest to the NHLBI. Medical student research at UT Southwestern Medical Center has a long and rich tradition. Since its inception in the late 1950's, these activities have encompassed a wide range of research opportunities that have been funded by state, private, and federal funds. Research activities that have been supported have included basic, clinical, and applied areas. This program has increased substantially in the past decade, commesurate with the emergence and development of facilities and faculty available on the UT Southwestern Medical Center campus. This application seeks to establish a training program that will focus on the exposure and development of medical students to formal training in clinical and basic research in areas supported by the NHLBI. Based on experiences derived from the existing summer research program at UT Southwestern, we envisage the establishment of a competitive program that would serve to provide opportunities to medical students at UT Southwestern Medical Center and throughout the United States. Building upon the experience that we have amassed in the identification and pairing of students and mentors, we anticipate that these experiences will further serve to further enrich the research background of students at UT Southwestern Medical Center and in other parts of the United States. In addition, we believe that this program will serve as a focal point to further enrich medical student research activities at UT Southwestern and participating institutions. Such activities will serve to heighten the awareness of additional opportunities that are available for the training of medical students (e.g. the Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowships for Medical Students, Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Fellowships) and to enhance the quality of students seeking training though the auspices of such programs. (End of Abstract)